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Topic Review (Newest First)

11-05-2011 01:18 PM

Edcat30

Hey folks.

So I have started to cut out the material and pulled all the wood out. I am now down to a layer of light brown material. It looks like resin and thickener.

Should I continue to dig down to fiberglass?

How far down should I expect to dig before I hit fiberglass bottom of the hull?

I wouldn't try to install lag bolts of that size with a drill. A nice whopping big ratchet or other wrench, with the longest handle you can find, or a length of pipe added to exend the handle. Torque! Nothing beats it.

There were actually two layers of plywood separated by REALLY hard grey material. It's harder than concrete although it looks a lot like it. I tried a ton of different tools to remove the grey stuff. Nothing worked well. I ended up having to beat it out with a hammer and wood chisel...took forever. There was another layer of the grey material below the second layer of plywood. Then finally fiberglass and lead below that. In all, I ended up cutting out about 4 to five inches of keel stub.

I`d bet that hard grey stuff was asbestos & resin. It was a very popular filler back then. Diamond hard after curing if it was mixed thick.

FYI - The lag bolts were extremely difficult to install in the 27/64" hole. My pneumatic impact gun couldn't drive them down. I had to bore out the holes a tiny bit. Still couldn't get them in all the way. I finally borrowed a massive Dewalt impact gun and it even struggled with one of the lag bolts.

When doing a job like this I always use a machinists caliper to check the minor diameter of the thread I am drilling for. Galvanizing has big variations in thickness and I drill for what I actually have in my hand. For example, Catalina might have come up with their recommendation by using electro-galvanized bolts which have a thin, almost shiny coating but if you were to use hot dipped, they would have the usual thick, somewhat coarse finish and would far prefer a slightly bigger hole.

Considering what materials you are working with, I`d be reluctant to use anything other than a long breaker bar to turn the socket. You SHOULD be able to run them in by hand. Using a 500 Ft. Lb. impact gun seems to me to be asking for something to strip or shear off. You ain`t bolting a bridge together.

HelloS: Catalina direct is now selling a "kit"..albeit a high priced one that requires only a hand drill. I can't see how this could drill a straight hole however without building a guide. I may create a homemade "press" to attach my drill to.

Just drill through a block of wood first, preferably in a drill press, then clamp it down so the hole is over the spot you want to drill. By the time your drill has bottomed out on the block the hole will be deep enough in the keel to keep things straight after removing the block.

Clamping it down is usually the easier said than done part of this procedure.

Bear in mind that is you are drilling into a lead keel that makes lead dust, hazmat and toxic to breath. The procedure there is usually to use drilling mud (i.e. grease or lube) so that no dust comes out of the holes are you are working, and a particle mask would be good insurance anyway.

I expect you'll need to rent a large drill to make that job go fast, and simply buy a nice shiny sharp new bit for the holes.

When drilling lead with a sharp bit there is no discernible `dust` - it drills with lovely long curls of lead. Wearing face protection is advisable when drilling anything but you really don`t have to worry about the toxicity of lead IMHO unless you are a pro doing a lot of it regularly.

11-01-2011 08:34 PM

hellosailor

I wouldn't try to install lag bolts of that size with a drill. A nice whopping big ratchet or other wrench, with the longest handle you can find, or a length of pipe added to exend the handle. Torque! Nothing beats it.

11-01-2011 08:30 PM

SailingWebGuy

I just replaced my keel stub and installed the lag bolts a little over a month ago. I also have a 76. Hull # 249. I found more layers in the keel stub than Catalina described and showed on the drawing they provided.

There were actually two layers of plywood separated by REALLY hard grey material. It's harder than concrete although it looks a lot like it. I tried a ton of different tools to remove the grey stuff. Nothing worked well. I ended up having to beat it out with a hammer and wood chisel...took forever. There was another layer of the grey material below the second layer of plywood. Then finally fiberglass and lead below that. In all, I ended up cutting out about 4 to five inches of keel stub.

FYI - The lag bolts were extremely difficult to install in the 27/64" hole. My pneumatic impact gun couldn't drive them down. I had to bore out the holes a tiny bit. Still couldn't get them in all the way. I finally borrowed a massive Dewalt impact gun and it even struggled with one of the lag bolts.

It's not a fun project but I'm really glad I did it after seeing all the rotten wood that came out of there.

11-01-2011 07:04 PM

hellosailor

Ah, plywood.

And no automatic bilge drier, either. Tsk, tsk. :-)

I blame these things on Reddy Kilowatt. That lying SOB promised us all we'd have nuclear reactors the size of a small hot water heater by the 80's, and dirt cheap endless clean electric power. Where is he now, 30+ years overdue?!

11-01-2011 04:43 PM

mitiempo

As far as the builder doing it the wrong way, I was referring to plywood in the keel stub. When it gets wet - not if - it rots and the bolts sink into it causing the keel/hull joint to open.

Most major builders use stainless for keel bolts and if inspected every so often they are ok.

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